Merryless Xmas
by Athina Dark-Angel of Death
Summary: Danny has been having the worst Christmas ever. Now he can't even control his ice powers. Ghostwriter comes looking for revenge, but even he can't bring himself to do so once he sees Danny. Danny/Ghost Writer Rated M for small amount of swearing and kissing that I believe might be too much for T


Merryless Xmas

Warning: Danny/Ghost Writer, however there is nothing more then kissing in here.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

Ghost Writer was still bitter from last Christmas. That stupid boy ruining his keyboard was a sore spot and although the truce didn't allow him to hurt anyone he could get away with a little property damage of his own. He usually wasn't one to leave his library but this was a special occasion. It was during this time of going through the boy's house invisibly that he heard the screaming. He looked in to see black blasting marks on the walls and what he knew from last Christmas to be the brat's parents. Danny himself sat on the coach hands clasped firmly over his ears trying to block out the arguments only to be blasted by an animated ham. Having had enough of the mayhem, he stood up and walked out of the house.

"Wait Danny you can't go," his sister pleaded.

"Why not? It's not like Mom or Dad will even realize I'm gone. I just want a break Jazz." His sister frowned, bit nodded her concent.

"Alright, but be back in two hours to help me cook. Mom and Dad won't be able to cook anything edible without our help." Danny nodded before going to the side of the house to transform. Writer followed still invisible at a constant distance. Now that he wasn't so upset with the child he felt a little sorry for him. He sat and watched the boy perch himself in a tree before transforming back. He realized the boy wasn't wearing a coat and wondered how the kid wasn't cold. Floated up he involuntarily set off Danny's ghost sense. The boy seemed to ignore it as he leaned his head against the tree with his guard fully down.

"As long as you aren't Plasmius I don't really care," he said looking directly at where Writer was despite the invisibility that should make that impossible.

"No, I am not," he answered revealing himself since the boy knew he was there. Danny sighed and curled up.

"Could you do me a favor and not write a poem this year. I'm really not in the mood to fight." His face was pulled into a definite frown as his eyes stared off unfocused into the distance.

"And what do you think you could do if I did?" he asked somewhat haughtily hoping to get a reaction out of the halfa. Something didn't feel right and his pity changed to concern.

"Stay sitting right her and pretend everything doesn't exist. I'm getting good at it," he answered voice lacking any of the usual spunk.

"So if a hoard of ghosts were to attack right now you would do nothing?" he asked skeptically with a deep frown and a small amount of hidden panic. He didn't want to believe that. Everyone knew the child just couldn't do nothing, it was his obsession after all. Danny curled up tighter and ice seemed to form over him.

"Yes," he answered burying his face in his arms.

"Why?" was all he could ask barely audible truly starting to panic now.

"I'm having a worse Christmas than usual. Sam called to break up with me and is going out with Tucker. They're my only distractions during this time of year so that means I'm on my own unless I want to go back to the scream fest." Writer could now clearly make out the ice encasing the shivering child. That wasn't normal ice and he didn't like where this was going.

"You may want to reign in your ice core," he said nervously and moved in closer reaching out.

"Can't. Another reason why I left. I haven't been able to since I started to feel sick." His voice as slightly muffled but Writer could still make it out. He cursed slightly and his hands glowed as he tried and failed to melt the ice. This was very bad. The child didn't realize just how bad this was.

"Can you at least break out and follow me?" he asked patiently hiding his panic so as to coax the child into trusting him. The ice cracked and Danny transformed floating after Writer. Writer lead them back into the Fenton household invisible the whole way and took the child through the portal and towards the party where everyone was gathered.

"Hey, dipstick," Ember greeted cheerily. "Did you come for the Truce Party?"

"I brought him. Do you think you can unthaw him with your fire core? He's very sick," Writer said pointing over to the boy. Ember floated over placing her hand over his chest and some of the ice melted away.

"He's way too powerful for me to fully dethaw and this isn't normal energy build up. Kid it feels like your rejecting your obsession," she said actually concerned. Damn, Writer cursed internally, that's what he thought. Murmers spread through the group present at the party, before Spectra floated up to put her hand on him. She pulled away and shifted positions so that she could cover his ears.

"His obsession is to protect and it would seem his motivational support has been completely removed," she said. She spoke softly to insure the boy could not hear her relaying his problems. The Truce forbid her from making him more miserable and if she did so now his core would collapse on itself.

"His parents have given up on him and stopped paying any attention to him instead focusing entirely on his sister. His two and only friends have been avoiding him and he just found out through a phone call from the Goth girl that she is breaking up with him and has been going out with the geek for quite some time. Furthermore his school called his house to tell him he would be staying back a grade due to failing grades and lack of attendance." The silence at the party betrayed its previous merriment. She removed her hands from his ears shaking off the frost that had gathered on them before hissing, "Merry Christmas indeed. If you want my opinion, kid, stay here. Even when the Truce is over I promise not to cause trouble for you." Her fingers carded through his hair for once giving true comfort. Deseree floated up to the child and clicked her fingers making a glass apear.

"Here, drink this. It's a temporary cure, but once Christmas is over we can help," she said holding out the glass which was filled with swirling green and purple liquid. Danny didn't question it and just downed the glass. The ice melted and his cheeks tinged with color as his eyes grew hazy. He wobbled until Writer wrapped his arms around the boy to steady him only for the boy to snuggle into him.

"Cheer-o-hal?" Writer asked raising an eyebrow as he recognized the drunken clingy behavior. She shrugged.

"What else could I give him? I highly doubt he's sober enough to think right now, and it does make a person happy which he desperately needs right now." The party renewed as Writer sat down on one of the couches with a sigh. Typically a ghost that had cheer-o-hal would be bouncing from person to person hugging them with uncontrolled joy. The fact that the boy was much more docile spoke volumes of how bad off he had been. Without even thinking he found himself stroking the boy's hair. Content noises of approval made their way to his ears that were rather cute and he blushed realizing the thought that had just gone through his head. Out of curiosity he let a small amount of his energy out in its raw form. He received a small zap in return and smiled. So the boy had some interest after all. It was a useful trick all ghosts had to see if the other had any interest or could have any interest. A tingle meant they could but did not have interest and a responding spark meant there was some interest. Some ghosts just couldn't work together either because of gender preference, age, or form differences. He hadn't been certain it would work because Danny was only a halfa, but he was proved wrong. Well, he had a way to help the boy now he thought smiling. Ember sat down next to them and looked over.

"He's pretty subdued," she noted. "You gonna take him home when we turn in tonight?"

"Yes, I believe I will," Writer answered shifting the halfa into his lap. Ember quirked an eyebrow at the action before smirking.

"Gonna have a go at him huh? Good luck with that. You checked right?"

"Of course I checked." The rest of the party was boring for Writer and he left carrying the halfa in his arms who was contently snuggling into his chest. When he reached his home he laid down on the coach with the teen on his chest knowing the kid wouldn't be letting go of him for a few more hours. He fell asleep hoping the boy wouldn't be too angry when he woke up.

Meanwhile, Jazz was panicking. Danny hadn't returned and her search for him was doing her no good. She had called Sam and Tucker only to learn Danny's situation with the two of them. Sam had argued today was the best day to break it to him because Christmas was never a good day for the boy so she doubted she could have made his mood worse. The resulting screams were defining and she wished she was actually face to face with the Goth so that she could strangle her. Once she had managed to hang up she checked everywhere she could think of to find her brother and came up empty returnign home to her still clueless parents.

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!" she screamed gaining instant silence from the two adults. "Since I know you haven't noticed Danny has been missing for five hours." Her parent had the gall to look unconcerned. She clenched her teeth and fists.

"Did you try calling his friends?" Maddie asked not worried in the least about her always missing son.

"His friends," she spat the word, "have been avoiding him for two months and were secretly dating behind his back. Sam called him today to make the breakup official and explain to him what had been going on so no he's not with them and I've already check the arcade, the park, the school, the library, and the mall. I can't find him!"

"I'm sure he's fine," Maddie said less certain. He was probably moping somewhere, but that didn't mean he was in any trouble.

"What if he got kidnapped by ghosts," Jack exclaimed making Maddie tense at the perfectly plausible possibility. The two parents finally got to looking for their missing son, but four hours later turned up nothing leaving them exhausted.

"Maybe he ran away. He has been different lately," Maddie suggested a small quaver to her voice as she sunk into the couch.

"How would you know? You two haven't truly talked to him in six months. All you've done is scold him, and ground him and yes maybe he did run away. I wouldn't be surprised!" she ended tears running down her face before she stormed up to her room. The two parents looked ashamed. Christmas Eve had never before been so miserable and it was their own fault.

Danny awoke feeling a warm surface beneath himself. He sat up to realize he was coated in a thin layer of frost and reassessed that thought. The surface couldn't have been that warm if he was this cold or it would have felt burning hot. He turned his gaze to see the Ghost Writer laying beneath him and looking at him in interest. He flushed a little and backed up.

"Sorry," he said realizing just what exactly he had been sleeping on.

"Do you remember any of yesterday?" Writer asked not bothering to sit up. Danny nodded unsure if he should move seeing as Writer didn't seem to care.

"All the way up to that weird drink which I'm still not sure what that was." He moved ready to get off only to have his wrist grabbed and tug him back down.

"That was something called cheer-o-hal and it usually makes a ghost so joyful they run around hugging everyone. You had enough to completely deprive you of the ability to speak and think and yet all you did was cling to me. That means if we hadn't given you it your core would have already collapsed," he stated his tone grave as he trailed his hand up Danny's arm so that it rested in the curve between the boy's neck and shoulder.

"Oh," Danny murmured blushing harder before Writer pulled him closer. He did so slowly giving the boy time to pull away if Danny didn't want to be kissed. He let Danny's mouth hover an inch from his and continued when the boy still didn't move.

"Perhaps it is time you start protecting something new," he said softly and leaned in kissing the boy pleased as it got rid of the frost left over on Danny's skin. Danny didn't return the kiss, but he didn't push Writer away either. "I will be blunt since I don't know how well your mind is working at the moment given your condition. I find you attractive and I wish to court you. Not just date, but court. Dating is for fun in the ghost realm, courting is for forming serious relationships that the ghost plans to actually go somewhere. I will be doing this whether you say you want me or not, but if you accept me then we can skip the part where I try to get you to return my affections." It was blunt but still wordy so Danny took a little time trying to process what was going on. He decided he didn't care. That kiss had felt wonderful and he had been feeling terrible lately. He needed something or someone to hold onto even if it turned out Writer didn't really like him. Just for now he would let himself believe this could work.

"Ok," he said resting down on Writer's chest and wrapping his arms around the ghost's neck. With that the spark to protect lit up again. He wanted this to work, and so he would give Writer any protection he could. He was decently certain Writer didn't need much so he was certain he could handle it.

"Would you care to head back to the Truce Party? It is a two day event," Writer inquired not really caring if the boy said no. Danny thought about it. Did he really want to go back to being surrounded by people? Thinking about people, now that his core had been relit he suddenly remembered Jazz and felt a small wave of panic.

"I promised Jazz to be back in two hours," he exclaimed fearfully. Writer acknowledged the worry by picking him up and flying out towards the portal to the boy's house. The sister hadn't done anything wrong to Danny as far as Spectra had said so he was obliged to bring him back to settle things with her. Still the kid's parents would be there and he felt a spark of protective rage. He may not be powerful, but he would break the Christmas Truce and fry those mortals if they did anything to further the pain Danny was suffering. The hug around his neck tightened and brought him back. He returned the squeeze before entering into the portal invisible. They went up to the kitchen to see Jazz asleep at the table still in the clothes from yesterday. Danny moved to go to her and Writer let go causing Danny to become visible. He sunk down next to her resuming his human form and shook her awake causing her eyes to snap open. She leapt up when she realized who it was and flung her arms around him.

"Danny, oh god, Danny," she gasped hugging him tightly. "Do you know how worried we've been? Where were you?"

"We?" Danny asked unable to think of anyone else who would care. This just caused her to hug harder.

"I know Mom and Dad haven't been the best to you lately, but they really do care Danny. They were up all night with me trying to find you when you didn't come home. Why didn't you come home?" she asked desperately. Danny looked ashamed.

"Your brother was freezing himself to a tree branch when I found him," Writer said letting himself become visible as he hovered with his arms crossed over his chest. Jazz didn't even flinch at the sudden appearance of a ghost. She instead chose to hug her brother again.

"What happened?" she asked softly patting his back.

"In his depression due to the recent events, Phantom lost the will to complete his obsession. A ghost without his obsession slowly destroys itself," he said icily unable to keep his anger from seeping through. Jazz paled. Her brother had been on the verge of killing himself. She was horrified that that thought hadn't crossed her mind. She never thought of that possibility in relation to Danny, but she should have, and even though Danny hadn't done so intentionally it was still partially her fault. She should have tried to help him. Danny changed back into his ghost form and floated back over to Writer.

"Look Jazz, I know I should stay here for Christmas, but," he looked at her pleadingly.

"Stop right there spook!" Jack yelled interrupting Danny.

"Dad no," Jazz yelled trying to get her father to stop. She didn't want her brother to flee. Danny lowered himself to the ground as his mother stepped in ready to fire.

"Where did you take our Danny you vile spook?" she hissed out. Danny let his transformation rings slide over himself as he changed back leaving everyone in the room stunned.

"So now you care?" he asked eyes shadowed. "You can't even look at me for months, and you suddenly give two damns about my existence?" His eyes lit up with his ghost powers. "I tried to talk to you over and over again, but you flung it back in my face! I tried to get your attention, but did either of you notice when I walked out yesterday? No! I thought you might notice since I was wearing a fucking T-shirt with no coat, but you didn't even look at me!" He was sobbing and snarling causing his voice to crack and rumble as his eyes changed to a vibrant blue. The room was frosting over making everyone but Writer's breath visible and the two parents looked like they had been slapped. Jack looked ready to cry and Maddie was dangerously pale. "I don't want this anymore," he choked out bringing his hands up to hug himself as he transformed back to his ghost self and drifted towards the portal.

"Danny," Maddie called desperately and her son shook his head before whirling around and fleeing through the portal. Writer gazed at the two broken looking adults quite satisfied with the verbal lashing yet still he felt one last thing needed to be said. He would not have them draw comfort in thinking that because their son was part ghost there had been no real threat.

"Your son almost completely died," he said monotone as he watched them carefully. "His obsession is to protect and he lost his will to do so. If he comes back to you, you ought to understand that a ghost with no will to nurture their obsession will have their core eat away at itself before collapsing. The collapsed core will explode and completely eradicate that ghost and anyone near them." With that he started to leave mentally wishing them the same merryless Christmas they had wished on their son. He was a very vindictive ghosts after all. "Oh, and Jasmine," he said stopping temporarily, "please feel free to visit my lair." He flew out through the portal and traveled the ghost zone trying to catch up with Danny. It wasn't very difficult to find him given the trail of ice crystals floating in the air from particles being frozen as the distressed boy passed. He found him curled up on his stomach sobbing with his ghost tail curled around himself for comfort. No doubt the boy hadn't been thinking when he zoomed off and had realized he was lost once he stopped. Writer sunk down with a sigh catching the boy's attention. Danny drifted upwards uncurling and attempted to wipe away the stream of tears.

"Don't bother," he said softly, "You have every right to cry." He smiled softly and pulled him close kissing his forehead. Danny let his head fall to Writer's chest. The library ghost lifted him up and floated slowly back towards his lair.

"I can stay here right?" Danny asked, "In the ghost zone with you?"

"Of course," Writer answered, "As long as you desire." He used his own head to nudge Danny's so that the halfa was gazing up at him before he kissed the boy until he received a satisfying moan. Yes, he would definitely be keeping this one.

AN: Well guys that's it angsty, short, and a touch of sweetness. I've been writing so many fanfictions that I never finish so I really needed to do something I could actually manage to finish. This little one shot actually sprang out of another story I'm in the middle of writing currently called Bloody Journals for lack of a better title. While writing this yet another story sprang up called Phantom Star which I'm sure won't be going anywhere. I'm thinking I might post all of my half baked stories within a single story and mark them in accordance to when I wrote them. A lot of them were written with a certain concept in mind and then another story was written later using the same concept because I had abandoned the previous story.


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